When to buy life insurance – the best time is before you need it. That is funny and also very true.
I’ve been selling life insurance for 26 years to families. Some years people have died, and I delivered a check to the husband or wife. It does not replace the tragic loss of their loved one, but it helps a lot so the surviving spouse can keep their house and have money in the bank.
Sadly, we have received more than one call from someone who asked, “Did my husband or son get life insurance with Farmers?”, and I have to say no.
Even if you are single and in your 20’s you should get a policy. Why? Because if you die, your last demand of your hard-working parents should not be for them to pay $10,000- $15,000+ to bury you. Like death and taxes, you can count on burial costs and your celebration of life party to be expensive.
Some Smart Reasons:
- It’s so much cheaper when you are young.
- When young you have less serious health issues but when you age if something serious comes up, you can no longer get life insurance for your family, or it’s super expensive.
- You can start saving money inside of a whole life policy today and get tax free growth for years. Some indexed policies can give you up to 12.5% returns too!
- It’s a smart strategy for long-term financial planning to have a guarantee so your family gets money if you die. In general, if your death will cause financial loss that cannot be replaced by other means.
- If you love your family protect them with a life insurance policy, in general, protect any people that depend on your income.
- You have debt that will carry on after your death, for example, a mortgage.
- You are buying a home.
- You are getting married.
- You are having a baby.
- You are planning a funeral.
- You want to plan for inheritance tax.
- You want to plan for the next generation.
The younger you are when you buy life insurance, the better usually, especially if you can lock in a low rate, for example, you can lock in a rate for 30 years with Term life. It’s like planting a financial safety net for your loved ones—something they can rely on if the unexpected happens.
Life insurance costs tend to increase as you get older, so acting sooner can save you money in the long run.
See this video blog post for the differences between whole life and term life insurance or this Farmers life insurance page for how life insurance works.